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5 biggest myths about telemarketing
It is one of the most popular sales techniques and the practice of contacting. Over the years it has received a lot of bad press. There are several misconceptions about the telemarketing which have to be explored. Is it true that contacts with clients over the phone make genuine relations with sales teams impossible? What is the effectiveness of such sales process, and what does affect the work of contact centers? Do natural-born sales people really exist? You will find answers in this article.
Telemarketing is controversial despite its advantages
Telemarketing is based on offering products or services to potential customers over the phone. It has been a part of sales strategies of a small business as well as big companies. The truth is it has many advantages and can lead to a successful buying process. If it is well-thought-out, it is easier to convince a customer to read the offer.
Sales and marketing teams can collaborate on a plan to use a good sales enablement strategy. They can prepare scripts with the high-quality content or use a new call center technology to meet the standards of the customer expectations.
On the other hand, it can arouse controversy due to the way of working of a sales team, different (not always pleasant) customer attitude towards sales people, and disputable elements of a sales process. Sometimes when a sales person makes phone calls too often, they are just unwelcome.
Selling over the phone and its myths
Telemarketing is characterized by many advantages, which are appreciated by sales teams and sales management. A sales person is able to have a lot of phone calls to customers at the same day. Can also give them quickly all the necessary information about products or services. It isn’t expensive to obtain more leads and, therefore, to increase the number of sales opportunities.
Despite this, there are some people who don’t think positively about such services. They point out that it is difficult to gain a loyal customer in this way.
They claim that if you work in a sales team and make too many phone calls at one day, it isn’t possible to maintain a good business contact with a customer. Who is right? Is a customer only a number? What about sales enablement tools?
Get to know the 5 top telemarketing myths and the stereotypes about the work of sales reps.
Myth 1: Telemarketing is only about being pushy and making phone calls
Some people say that employees who work in sales teams and make a lot of phone calls every day are just con men who don’t care about the quality of customer interactions. They have a lot of monotonous conversations and don’t have any factual knowledge about products that they offer.
Moreover, they make numerous phone calls during a week, and don’t think about the customers. They simply follow the scripts and aren’t willing to think about the consequences of their actions. Frequent contacts can be disturbing and annoying to customers.
The sales reps’ aim is just to gain customers and reach an adequate level of a sales funnel. What is more, they are only interested in using the right tools and ticking the proper brackets in a system (a customer base). A customer is not as relevant as reaching the sales goal.
Fact 1: Sales people have a lot of administrative tasks to do
People who work in a contact center take care of both new customers and existing ones, and provide services 24/7. They have different duties that depend on their workplace: inbound call center, blended or outbound call centers. For example, an inbound call center is a place where telemarketers handle inbound calls.
Some of them work as customer service agents, not just telemarketers. Their duties rely on giving the detailed information about the companies, accepting complaints, making surveys, arranging appointments and many more. They are responsible for customer retention. Every agent productivity can be checked just to make sure that customers are satisfied.
Companies that deal with selling products or services over the phone often use software that helps to analyze call center agent performance. For example, it is the CRM system that contains details about clients and meetings or the lead management.
What interesting, there are sales enablement apps that can improve the work of salespeople. The Call Center module from Salesbook enables to nurture qualified leads, plan a selling process, and a marketing campaign for outbound calls in advance.
A new call center technology not only affects the sales organization, but also helps to use valuable information, and therefore, gain customers.
Moreover, with today’s technology, contact centers don’t have to be in a centralized location anymore.
Myth 2: Sales reps working in call centers are interested only in cold calling
Another myth is based on a conviction that cold calling is the only thing that sales reps do in call centers. Cold calling is a practice used by some sales leaders that is based on contacts with unknown individuals.
Some people are of the opinion that cold calling doesn’t influence on the positive customer experience. They claim that are no differences between this method and other strategies of lead generation.
On the other hand, how often do you pick up the phone and hear about the services that you aren’t interested in? You haven’t even heard about this company and their product or service. Nobody likes if someone is pushy and tries to sell them products in an aggressive way.
Fact 2: Sales and marketing teams in call centers do a lot more
A successful cooperation between a contact center and a marketing department allows gaining more leads thanks to well-planned campaigns. They provide sales with the information about the customers who can be interested in the product or service.
Therefore, sales reps don’t choose random phone numbers. Instead of this, they make phone calls to customers eager to listen about the offer and take part in a buying process.
How is it possible that they have these business data and easy access to them? Some thought leaders and decision makers are of the opinion that a successful sales enablement strategy should involve the actions of sales and marketing department. Those teams have to have common goals and cooperate to improve the business process and satisfy the customer needs.
For example, a marketing teams organize a webinar about a given service. After this online event a sales team can make use of leads.
Check what the Call Center module can do for you.
Myth 3: It is a hard and monotonous work for every sales team
Large groups of people are of the opinion that it is getting more and more difficult to gain potential customers and the job itself is unrewarding.
Conversations aren’t carried out in a pleasant atmosphere, and customers think they are always right. What is more, clients aren’t convinced to buy products or services offered by salespeople. Nowadays, it is hard to persuade a customer to even consider buying new things. Clients always explain that their budget is limited and can do nothing about it.
On the other hand, is it so surprising that customers have enough of such phone calls? Every day, they receive at least several calls which are similar.
Some selling techniques are obsolete and don’t really support the sales process. This is not the way to close deals or improve sales performance of a company.
Fact 3: Sales teams in call centers use sales enablement tools
Indeed, if you work in a company that sells things over the phone, you have to take unpleasant conversations and contacts into account. You deal with various people from big companies and retail businesses. It is true that a demanding customer can be a challenge.
However, there are more responsibilities to fulfill. You have to take care of existing customers, who often have their own problems to solve. Your duty is also to follow the script and do everything to make the sales process successful. Probably you have a lot of manual work to do, and you are responsible for the data entry. There are numerous obligations to meet the expectations of a customer.
Are you aware that a modern CRM system could improve the sales process and the work of your sales team in call centers? Not to mention the sales enablement strategy.
The complete look at the sales pipeline, details about a given customer interaction, the information about meeting the customer expectations – these are only several data that you can find in one platform.
Think about new happy customers who can be added to your base thanks to a new tool. A company that owns sales enablement solutions knows that is a long-term strategy to develop their call center technology and isn’t afraid of modern systems or apps.
If you decide to try the Call Center module from Salesbook, you will use such functions as planning of tasks or gaining the recent information from campaigns.
Myth 4: You cannot learn how to carry out a successful sales process over the phone
It is one of the most frequent myths about selling goods to customers over the phone. What is interesting, sales reps from call centers are willing to repeat such stereotypes. They believe in their own legends.
They claim that a person who works in a sales team has to have a natural gift to be a sales leader, close deals, gain more leads, and the most demanding clients. Every customer is a challenge – only the best ones know to deal with it, and be successful.
As far as customer service agents are concerned, you can hear similar opinions. It is not enough to know the script. They should be extroverts and have some psychological knowledge to deal with the stress in call centers.
Fact 4: Call centers should make use of natural gifts of their employees, but also turn to sales enablement tools
It is obvious that natural predispositions towards a job in call centers are helpful. Some traits of character make contacts with customers easier. It is a big advantage when someone can convince a client to a product or service. It makes sense to use all such talents if you work for a company that sells goods over the phone.
What else is important? Certainly, a good sales person should have the vast knowledge about the offer, psychology, and the process of communication. The script and good habits at work are things that one can learn.
But think about the sales performance if such a talkative person uses the sales enablement tools. Are you curious about modern technology and sales enablement apps? Read about it in the rest part of this article.
What else is important in call centers?
There are many other factors, which influence on the work of sales teams in call centers. Every day, sales reps deal with many businesses from different areas.
We have mentioned that natural skills may not be enough to always sell service or a product. If you run your own company, and your business deals with call centers, it is wise to consider the implementation of modern sales enablement tools.
One of the sales enablement tools that deserves your attention is the app from Salesbook, and its Call Center module.
Firstly, Salesbook allows sales teams to accelerate the process, and automotive tasks can be automatically performed. Secondly, it has the Call Center module, which is indispensable in everyday work.
Why is the module so useful? It enables call centers to gather the information about unanswered calls and enables to tag and segregate them in lists. Thanks to this, the work of sales teams is systematized, which has a positive impact on your business.
Myth 5: Such kind of business does not build the relations with clients
It is the myth that can be repeated only by a person who treats their work instrumentally, or thinks that everyone can work in a sales team and a call center.
Certainly, the work in telemarketing is specific. Some people say that it is more difficult to focus on a given customer. You have to ask questions about the needs, make notes, think about the offer all the time, and seek solutions. Moreover, due to obvious reasons, you can’t maintain an eye contact with your customer.
It is obvious that it is easier to develop business if you have only direct meetings. Selling over the phone is more demanding than a sales process during a business meeting. However, it is not impossible.
Fact 5: Telemarketing is up to a sales person
If a sales person is engaged in their work, doesn’t want to be a machine, and just send follow-up emails to a customer after meetings.
Have you ever wondered what makes that a salesperson, who is very busy due to arrangements and KPIs, is still able to maintain good contacts with customers?
Certainly, it is important if a sales person sees the priorities, and the most relevant tasks. What products or services are the most important ones? What is the most essential information to convey?
However, a good business needs something more than just a devoted employee. You have to ask yourself several questions. Is the sales CRM in a company good enough? Does it have all the necessary functions? How does it affect your business? Is it intuitive? Do sales teams know what to do to accelerate their work?
Read about the modern sales enablement tool in the rest part of the article.
The effectiveness of telemarketing in 2023. Why is it wise to choose this kind of sales process?
Selling services and products over the phone is not the newest sales trend among companies. Moreover, it is worth to focus on it due to several reasons.
Firstly, while more and more companies are competing against each other on the market, selling over the phone is the fastest and most effective way to gain new customers. A good telemarketing script, devoted and motivated sales person, being focused on clients’ needs, are the keys to success. A well-prepared sales person is able to make plenty of promising conversations in one day.
If you think that your business needs new strategies and sales reps are eager to use new tools, broaden your horizons. Don’t forget about modern solutions and implement or change your sales enablement strategy. Think in advance of your sales goals, and how you want to achieve them.
Secondly, It is not expensive to gain more leads thanks to the sales enablement technology. The modern sales enablement solutions support the everyday work of sales teams. For example, the app from Salesbook, is a complete platform which provides sales people from call centers with the right tools, sales materials, and relevant data.
By developing your business and using modern technology in the following year, you gain an opportunity to reach customers who haven’t been interested in your offer so far.
Think about your new potential customer
Who is he or she? What are their expectations? What about fighting off the competition of other companies?
Thirdly, if you run your own business, or even deal with several businesses, you should think about sales enablement tools because of another reason. They can help you to accelerate sales processes and attract new customers. Thanks to automatically generated reports, offers, and data, your sales team can work more effectively. What is more, you can increase your sales.
Have you already known the Call Center module from Salesbook?
The Call Center module can support you in achieving your sales goals and contribute to developing your business. Thanks to solutions mentioned above in the article, you can improve the lead conversion by 30%.
It is a sales enablement tool designed for sales people that allows you to increase the efficiency of the conducted campaigns and makes the work of call centers easier.
Do you have the sales CRM system in your company? Be open to new possibilities! The Call Center module will integrate with your CRM.
If you want to start using the new Call Center module in your application, please contact your Salesbook manager or send an e-mail at: sales@salesbook.com.
You can also try the free demo.
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